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Perfecting platform support

Spanish builder Astilleros Gondan has successfully completed and delivered the second of two Rolls-Royce Marine-designed PSVs to Norwegian shipowner Simon Møkster Shipping.

Like her first in class predecessor Stril Luna, which was delivered to Simon Møkster in July, the new Stril Mar has been constructed to the specifications of Rolls-Royce Marine’s UT 776 Wave Piercing (WP) class. She joins Stril Luna in providing support services to oil platforms in the North Sea, both vessels currently being contracted to energy major Statoil.

However, Gondan explains, rather than describing the duo as ‘sister ships’, the term ‘cousins’ may prove to be more appropriate.

When it comes to technical particulars and equipment, Stril Luna and Stril Mar share many features in common. For instance, each vessel features a cargo deck area spanning 1,030m² and capable of carrying 2,700tonnes of cargo (with the deck strengthened to 10tonnes per m²).

Each also features an engine arrangement comprising four Rolls-Royce Bergen C25:33L6ACD engines, delivering a combined output of 7,680kW and a top speed of 17knots. And the installation of Rolls-Royce Marine’s ergonomically tailored Unified Bridge Design ­ which made its debut aboard Stril Luna ­ has been repeated on Stril Mar.

New additions
However, additional functionality has been built into the latest delivery, giving Stril Mar some extra features which Stril Luna lacks.

This includes the installation of a FiFi 2-rated firefighting system, manufactured by FFS Norway and featuring a dispersal capacity of 1,200m³ per hour. The system is located at Stril Mar’s stern, rather than on the bow; according to Gondan, this positioning should guarantee “safer and easier operations”, especially in the event of a platform explosion, or should the wind start to carry a platform fire towards the vessel ­ as well as enabling the crew to make a speedy exit should the blaze rage out of control.

With regard to tank volumes, Stril Mar can store up to 1,084m³ of fuel oil and 975m³ of fresh water, with the capacity to transport 364.8m³ of dry bulk cement and just over 3,320m³ of drill water. A dedicated methanol tank enables the onboard storage of 344.3m³ of this substance.

An onboard hospital with a treatment bench, medicine/poison lockers and ship-to-shore communications allows for emergency treatment of sick offshore technicians, and the PSV has also been fitted with a man overboard (MOB) rescue scoop, manufactured by Dacon, and a Mare GTC700 lifeboat.

The deck features two cranes, each rated 10tonnes SWL at an outreach of 8-14m, which, in addition to enabling ship-to-platform cargo operations, are approved by the Norwegian Maritime Directorate for rescue basket operations.

Stril Mar constitutes the third vessel that Gondan has built for Simon Møkster, since the handover of the 97m supply ship / tug Stril Merkur in 2011.